Teens are involved in making potentially life-changing decisions every day.
Be it their career, risk behaviour, or school involvement, the choices teenagers make have the power to influence various aspects of their lives in the future.
Should I go out with friends to a party where they are going to try questionable items?
According to a study published in NCBI, the steps involved in any decision include:
- Recognising that a decision must be made
- Understanding the goals that one hopes to attain
- Making a list of option.
- Determining the desirability of each consequence
- Evaluating the likelihood of each consequence
- Integrating all the information
Every step of the process highlights an underlying life skill that one must possess to achieve the final goal of making the right decision. making it one of the most sought after life skills by employers.
The Standford Children’s Health
states that children in the age group 12 to 18 years consistently grow in their thinking capacity, moving from concrete thinking to formal logical operations. In late adolescence, children can use complex thinking to focus on less self-centred concepts and personal decision-making.
Parenting Teens: Helping Teens Develop Confidence
To mature into responsible adults, they need to learn to make good decisions and benefit from their experiences.
Individuals develop critical thinking skills by first being confident. The ability to make wise decisions rely on an individual’s confidence level.Here are a few ways to help your teen develop confidence:
Show love, respect and support
Teenagers need love, respect and support from their parents to become independent. Strong relationships with parents help them feel safe and secure and makes it easier for them to face challenges and overcome them.
Our unique education programme ensures that Carthusians have a confident take on the world’s complexities and opportunities as they develop an ability to make the right decisions for themselves.
Set clear limits and rules
Setting clear family limits and rules about socialising can help your child understand your family values and what you expect from them. Encourage them to have a healthy lifestyle and stay active by exercising.According to Dr Beth Stomshark “Positive parenting really means forming a positive relationship with your child that’s focused more on praise, support, and incentives and less on negative things like yelling, criticizing, or nagging.” It is often helpful to involve teenagers in the forming of the family rules and what the consequences might be if they do not live up to them.
Brainstorming solutions together
As you help your teen become independent, it is important to remember that making mistakes and learning from them is a part of the journey. Your role is to give them the support required to develop decision-making skills without overwhelming them.
Empowering Carthusians with Decision-making Skills
The school day at Charterhouse is designed to provide students with opportunities for collaboration and student leadership.We engage students in projects that encourage them to think and learn independently. How exactly have we managed to do that?
With meticulous planning and great attention to detail, Charterhouse Malaysia successfully gave form to a Future Ready learning programme:
Independent Learning Programme
The Independent Learning Programme (ILP) forms an integral part of our curriculum at Charterhouse Malaysia. Throughout the programme, our learners conduct an Independent Research Project aimed at solving a real-world problem in a community. By devising innovative solutions to social issues, they build confidence and leadership skills and a deeper sense of social responsibility.
Design Thinking
We teach students to solve problems using design thinking, an innovative process widely used by scientists, inventors and innovators. It involves five phases – empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test.Charterhouse Malaysia’s approach to design thinking is called “WEAVE”:
Wonder, students engage with a problem or unanswered question;
Explore, they use research skills to consider the barriers to solving the problem;
Apply, they prototype possible solutions;
Value, they refine their work based on feedback from their peers, teachers and the community; and
Exhibit, they launch their finished product.
Spectra Smarts
We recognise that human intelligence is broad.
Individualised Learning and Career Guidance Education
Our unique education programme ensures that Carthusians have a confident take on the world’s complexities and opportunities as they develop an ability to make the right decisions for themselves.
